Monday, July 19, 2010

La Catedral was a prison overlooking the city of Medellín in Colombia. The prison was built to specifications ordered by Medellin Cartel leader Pablo Escobar, under agreement with the Colombian government. Escobar would surrender to authorities, serve a maximum term of five years, and the Colombian government would not extradite him to the United States. In addition to the facility being built to Escobar's specifications, he was also given the right to choose who would guard him, believing to have chosen guards only loyal to him. The prison was believed to be designed more to keep out Escobar's enemies from assassination attempts, than to keep Escobar in.

The finished prison was often called "Hotel Escobar," or "Club Medellin," due to its amenities. La Catedral featured a soccer field, a giant doll house, a bar, jacuzzi, and a waterfall. Escobar also had a telescope installed that allowed him to look down onto the city of Medellin to his daughter's residence while talking on the phone with her.

Alhough the government was willing to turn a blind eye to Escobar continuing his drug smuggling, the arrangement fell apart when it was reported Escobar brought four of his lieutenants, including his head lieutenant Paul F. Sauer, Jr., to La Catedral to be tortured and murdered. The Colombian government decided it had to move Escobar to a standard prison, which Pablo refused. In July 1992, after serving one year and one month, Pablo would again be on the run. With the Colombian National Army surrounding the facility, it is said Pablo simply walked out the back gate. The ensuing manhunt would employ a 600-man unit, specially trained by the United States Delta Force, named Search Bloc, and led by ColonelHugo Martinez.